It’s been almost eight years since 13-year-old Andy Lopez was gunned down on a neighborhood sidewalk in Santa Rosa, CA by Sonoma County Sheriff’s Deputy Erick Gelhaus. Gelhaus, a 24-year veteran of the Sheriff’s office at the time (as well as a firearms instructor and Iraq war veteran,) apparently mistook the Airsoft gun Lopez was…
Sonoma County-based documentarian Ron Rogers made two recent appeararances on KSRO’s The Drive with Steve Jaxon to discuss his film 3 Seconds in October: The Shooting of Andy Lopez. He appeared on the July 13, 2021 show before the film’s broadcast on two Bay Area Public Television stations and then on the July 19, 2021…
Netflix’s Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal is an odd film. It’s part documentary, part docu-drama, and all absolutely infuriating. Director Chris Smith uses interviews and dramatic recreations to tell the story of the great College Admissions Scandal of 2019 in which elite members of the business, law, and entertainment communities (including residents of…
With the entire country under shelter-in-place for the past month, an edgy, stir-crazy nation has been desperate for new shows that could help take the edge off of the possibility of mass societal extinction. So, it is not unusual that a show such as Tiger King, a seven part Netflix reality show/documentary would capture a…
I’ve been covering the San Francisco International Film Festival for over ten years now, so long that it’s changed its name. Now it’s known as the SFFILM Festival and it’s running now through April 23 at a variety of venues in the Bay Area. My day began with a “check-in” at the Festival Lounge. This…
An eerie sense of discomfort and anxiety begins to arise roughly halfway through the remarkable, entertaining, gripping, and disturbing new documentary ‘Three Identical Strangers.’ Once it starts, it only builds, continuing till long after the credits roll. Directed by Tim Wardle (“One Killer Punch”), this surprise hit (from CNN Films and England’s Channel 4) related…
